On the issue of fans on stage, I have not liked this much because it seems to drag on for too long. But since Prince has this in his show and apparently enjoys it.

When it's a Prince show, it's Prince's stage. So he can pick whomever he wants to dance on stage. Sometimes he picks fat chicks to bring on stage, and I don't see a problem with that. There are degrees of fatness: there's thick, there's overweight, and there's obese. I think having the thick or overweight fans on stage is cool , but maybe he should think about not having the truly obese up there. It's a nice gesture to have chubbies on stage, but not if their going to be the object of laughter or ridicule.

Prince has shown that he is okay with chubbies and doesn't discriminate against people based on their size. He has had fat people in his bands since Boni Boyer in the 80s. And he has a sister, Tyka, who is obese. He had Michael Bland on drums. He's had Chance Howard, Rosie Gaines, and Chaka Khan on stage. Anyway, that's my view on this "fat folks on stage" issue. It's fine to have people of all sizes up there, but only if they're there in the right spirit, and not in the spirit of being the object of ridicule.


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[This message was edited Tue Apr 6 14:03:12 2004 by Batdance]

good luck with this, its been covered already fool

Or perhaps people should be weighed before they enter the venue building, and if their prejudice tips the scales, they should be kicked to the kerb?

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[This message was edited Tue Apr 6 15:34:17 2004 by langebleu]

Did you actually just name check all the overweight people in Prince's life?


Wow.

langebleu said:

i agree, perhaps they are not worthy of attending a prince concert, and should be at home, banned to the house

nakedpianoplayer said:

I don't see anywhere in my post where I called you a name. But since you wanted to call me a a "fool", I'll return the favor: Mind your own business ASSHOLE. If you don't want to respond, nobody is twisting your arm.

It doesn't matter if YOU already covered this. This website ain't about you. There may be some people who didn't get a chance to post before the threads disappeared or were locked.
[This message was edited Tue Apr 6 17:04:53 2004 by Batdance]

Jestyr said:

I'm not sure. I may have missed a few chubbies in his life

Batdance said:

yes, if it was locked, why start another ?

nakedpianoplayer said:

Has it occurred to you that some folks don't have access to a computer over the weekend and have to wait until Mondays to post? When a thread that interests us is locked over the weekend, it cuts off our opportunity to give an opinion.

Excellent post and great topic. I agree with you that the fans onstage really don't improve the show. However, if Prince must fans onstage, then have the best looking ones up there, both male and female. And definitely avoid any grossly obese people who are distractingly unpleasant to look at. It is just uncool to be superfat. For some reason, African-American fat people would be less offensive than Caucasian fat people. Like Chance Howard or Michael Bland are OK and kinda cool with their girth, but I don't think a really fat white guy would work as well, and definitely not an obese white chick as we saw in the center of the stage in LA. Don't ask me why this is the case, but I think most people would agree, at least privately.

Sometimes you get a really overweight person who is funny. For instance in that famous Philadelphia show video, there is that large woman who starts dancing all dirty and almost pulling off her pants. It was classic how Prince reacted to it, but I'm not sure if you want fat people up there just for comic relief and to get funny reactions out of Prince.

So I agree with you that "chubbies" are OK, but not the "truly obese"...I'm using your terms. As I said, I'd rather have no one up there, but at least if he is going to pull people up there, at least add to the "coolness factor" of the show and not make it a buzzkill for the audience.


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[This message was edited Tue Apr 6 21:44:12 2004 by RupertZ]

RupertZ said:

Well, I don't really agree that only the best looking people should be chosen to dance on stage. For one thing, there are different opinions on attractiveness. A person who looks good to one person eyes might not look attractive to another person. So whose standards of beauty would be used to decide who is good looking enough to make it onstage?

If Prince's criteria is used, it would mean only young petite brunette females would be selected. I predict that it would create problems in his fanbase, and I think Prince could even lose fans if he did that. So I'll stick to my view that it's okay to have chubbies who are thick or overweight but the truly obese should not be up there. The people on stage shouldn't be brought up as objects of ridicule, and unfortunately I think that's what happens when some superfat people are onstage shaking their bodies around.

Batdance said:

Everyone pretty much agrees what is attractive and what isn't. Sure there are some shades of gray in there, but people all over the earth pretty much agree, in general. Go to a site like "amihotornot.com" and rate the women (or the men for that matter), and you will probably see that everyone else rated them about the same, with few exceptions.

RupertZ said:

No, people all over the earth don't agree on what's attractive. In some parts of the world, being hefty is considered attractive because it means the person is wealthy enough to eat. I think what you're saying is everyone from the Western European culture pretty much agrees on what's attractive. What happens when you use Western European standards to judge everyone, you come up with people who are considered "unattractive" because they don't have Western European features or skin color.

So, I think the best policy as far as having fans onstage is to pick a variety of people, from all races, but whoever is doing the selecting should try to choose people who won't be laughed at or ridiculed.

Why are some people so obsessed with this topic that they must post the same thing on several different threads? Why are some people obsessed with fans' weights and looks?

Well, in OKC tonight there was a nice sampling of various dimensions. All I know is no one in OKC that was sitting around me seemed to make fun of anyone up there. There was even a white guy who Prince put out on the edge of one of the extensions since this WG had a little bit of rhythm. Everyone on stage had a lot of fun and I am sure were tickled to be up there. Same as I saw at the Fillmore and Staples. They are not up there to entertain you or anyone else. Who cares what they look like or how well they dance? We go for the live music and the experience, and who can deny that the crowd is always part of that experience? Young, old, pale, dark, gay, straight, conservative, skank, etc. Prince brings a variety of music and attracts a variety of clientele and that has always been part of it. I met the nicest man and his wife tonight who drove in for the show. Very generous people and easy going. The man was a quadripalegic. He had to deal with getting in and out of a crowded venue in a wheelchair but not once did this guy complain. Every topic we talked about tonight, he was nothing but civil and a gentleman. I think this guy more truly represents a Prince fan, and not people who are shallow enough to be so petty as to complain about who ends up being fortunate enough to go on stage. At least we were rewarded somewhat tonight by seeing Prince walk by within 10 feet of the hotel bar we were hanging out in as he headed to the elevators. Then he came by again about 10 minutes later as he headed out to a Bricktown bar. I am hoping not to perform!

AnotherLoverToo said:

Why are some people so obsessed with what other people post that they would take the time to post their obsessive questions about other peoples' posts instead of staying on topic with the thread?

RupertZ said:

ok, so now, it not just fat people, you have a problem with white people too huh ? heres the thing i dont think you see, indeed you look incredibly ignorant in your words. you are shallow, and obviously have little experience in dealing with people. it is beyond me how a person has the views that you seem to feel free enough to post in writing here, as you know that they will forever be remembered along side your name

let me understand again what you are saying k ? you are telling us that black fat people are alright ? what is it that you are saying in that statement ? i mean, i could fill in the blanks, but i am more curious to see how YOU would explain that therory. i am out of breath in working with you on how to treat people, and how to understand people, it just aint gonna work anymore, to me you just another confused soul walking the planet, believing you are 'all mighty' and right in all that you say and do....God help you, you are gonna need it

RupertZ said:

Oh, I'm very much on-topic, honey-bunny.

this is how threads get locked

nakedpianoplayer said:

Well, what l I said was that I wish Prince didn't have people onstage, but if he has to do so, just put cooler looking people up there. I didn't say anything else that everyone doesn't already know. You are apparently afraid to accept reality or you wouldn't get so angry when you hear it. Yes, thin black people are perceived as "cooler" than fat white people....at least by 99% of those out there. That is the truth...just accept it or bury your head back in the sand.


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[This message was edited Wed Apr 7 9:20:49 2004 by RupertZ]

RupertZ said:

How about you post a picture of yourself in this thread, to see if we all have the same opinion about your appearance, and to see if you have any "stageability"( potential to be classified as "fine" enough to get up on stage).....

ndigo said:

Not that it matters, but I've already said that there's no way I would want to be onstage and there's no way I should be onstage. I'm not particularly physically attractive....and even if I was good looking, I still wouldn't want to be up there. It is a Prince concert...people are there to see Prince, not a bunch of dumb fans dance around onstage. They can dance just as well at their seats.

I've had friends pulled up onstage and while it is kind of fun to see them up there, I'd rather see Prince dance. I can hang out with my friends anytime. Fans onstage are just a DISTRACTION and a BUZZKILL TO THE FUNK.


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[This message was edited Wed Apr 7 10:27:10 2004 by RupertZ]

RupertZ said:

read what you said again, thats NOT what you said the first time dont back out now, lets hear your reasons

nakedpianoplayer said:

Reasons for what? The reasons that black people are perceived as cooler than white people? That's just the way it is...I'm not a sociologist to be able to explain the "reason" to you.

And I'm not being inconsistent at all...actually, I'm fairly sure that a fat black woman onstage dancing would go over better than a thin goofy looking white guy. This is not about what I think is cool, but what most people do. The reason I get so much hatred and anger directed at me in this thread is because I'm saying things that are obviously true, but that some people are afraid to accept, like: in general, fat people are perceived as less attractive than thin people, black people are perceived to be, on average, cooler than white people... Not by me, but by 99% of people who would be watching them dance onstage.

Some people do not understand terms like "on average" or "the majority" or "in general". Or maybe they just don't want to accept what I'm saying as the obvious truth.

But we are getting off on a tangent and my main point was that I can go to a club and watch people dance...or I can watch repeats of Soul Train or American Bandstand....or Sweating With the Oldies. During a Prince concert, I want to see Prince and that's what most people want to see. Fans onstage do not ruin the show, but they lower the quality of it and they serve no purpose up there except to make it seem like Prince is connecting with his audience in some way. Yet he can connect with the audience just fine by just performing and letting the audience react from their seats. It's such a simple concept, yet it eludes so many.

Is this guy Patrick Bateman?

I'm not angry- at all- and I certainly don't hate anyone. I'm just a thick black girl, who loves Prince. I'm trying to understand why you have some of the views that you do....

Jestyr said:

Naw. Reads more like Blactrick Buchanan.

ndigo said:

Well, what I posted is not about me and my personal tastes about people in general. I've dated thin white women, thin black women, fat white women, and fat black women. I was just posting about people being onstage with Prince in a performance situation where what onstage is supposed to look cool, sexy, and funky.


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[This message was edited Wed Apr 7 11:45:57 2004 by RupertZ]

CJBabyDaddy said:

LOL!

RupertZ said:

thats it, i give, you are stupid, and gonna stay that way, thought i could help ya out, but you are too far gone